diff --git a/hw/xfree86/common/xf86Helper.c b/hw/xfree86/common/xf86Helper.c
index cd4891480..07f9f0a52 100644
--- a/hw/xfree86/common/xf86Helper.c
+++ b/hw/xfree86/common/xf86Helper.c
@@ -1440,6 +1440,13 @@ xf86MatchDevice(const char *drivername, GDevPtr **sectlist)
     if (sectlist)
 	*sectlist = NULL;
 
+    /*
+     * This can happen when running Xorg -showopts and a module like ati
+     * or vmware tries to load its submodules when xf86ConfigLayout is empty
+     */
+    if (!xf86ConfigLayout.screens)
+	return 0;
+
     /*
      * This is a very important function that matches the device sections
      * as they show up in the config file with the drivers that the server